Shahs of Sunset: First Season Review

Hi everyone!

Those of you who have been following me since I launched this blog last November have probably noticed that I've not posted much lately. The reason for this is not that I'm no longer interested in keeping the blog going, but rather that I found the whole process of finding newsworthy current affairs to write about every day was more of a challenge than something I enjoyed. When I initially launched the blog, my intent had been to write about culture, art, society, etc--hence Author on the Town. I got away from that, and while world issues is something that I am very passionate about, it's hard work to write about every day. I've also noticed that my most popular entries are those devoted to film, literature, and restaurant reviews--i.e. culture.

So...I'm excited to report that I'm refocusing this blog to fit within that category. In other words, I'm going back to my original intention. I'm thinking two new postings every week on all manner of pop culture and the worlds of art, music, film, theatre, literature, and nightlife. My real passions. I also want to make this blog more interactive. I want to hear from you, my readers, whether you agree or disagree with my reviews. I also want to hear about what you're reading, watching, where you're eating and drinking, your likes, dislikes, all of the above.

Having said that, I am devoting tonight's entry to a first season wrap-up of Bravo's new reality-based show "The Shahs of Sunset," which had its first season final this evening.

For those of you who aren't familiar with the show, "Shahs of Sunset" depicted in Real Housewives fashion the intersecting lives of six Persian-Americans living in Los Angeles--otherwise known in the Persian community as Tehrangeles for the large Persian community that exists there. Over the past six Sundays, we've gotten to know GG (beautiful and spoiled with anger management issues), Mike (Jewish, hunky, trying to get his real estate career back on its feet after some difficulties in Las Vegas), MJ (real estate broker with self-esteem and Mother issues), Asa (funky, avant-garde, concerned more with being true to her artistic vision than appealing to the commercial market), Reza (opinionated, gay, dealing with estrangement from his father), and Sammy (in high end real estate development, clubby, the party boy). What they share is the fact that all are the children of wealthy Iranian exiles.

And while much is made of and discussed on the show about what it means to be Persian in the United States, I didn't really come away with anything particularly profound or enlightening about the Persian community from having watched this show. In fact, "Shahs of Sunset" has been criticized in Persian circles for enhancing negative stereotypes. I'm not going to dwell on that here.

What I will say is that for yet another formulaic Bravo reality-based series, "Shahs of Sunset" proved to be highly entertaining and even, especially in the final two episodes, really quite poignant. Sure, the series was not without its share of drama and over-the-top alcohol-fueled confrontations in very public settings (GG more often than not rightly or wrongly serving as the eye of the hurricane), just plain weirdness (Asa's 'Diamond Water' ritual was debated and dissected on Andy Cohen's "Watch What Happens Live"), and the needlessly voyeuristic (I didn't really need to witness MJ and Reza getting simultaneous colonics), but where it succeeded most for me was in its handling of difficulties and misperceptions between Old World parents and New World children. Reza's tearful reunion with his dad in the second to last episode was about as poignant a moment as I've seen in the reality-TV genre, likewise the scene in the final episode where MJ tries to come to terms with her mother whom Reza had previously said simply does not love her. And while I never quite figured out the reasons for GG's anger management challenges, (though she finally mentions having been bullied as a kid for being Persian) I did feel just a bit sad for her when she confessed to Mike that she hadn't been on a date in five years and that she really was a good person deep down inside. I loved her awkward date with the doctor in the season finale. It was about as vulnerable as I'd ever seen GG. And I kind of like Asa's single "Tehrangeles" that received its premiere in the season finale -- always it seems at least one of these reality cast members has to have a single! (It's available on iTunes, by the way.)

I don't know whether "Shahs of Sunset" has been picked up for a second season. I think the likelihood is high that it will be, given its relative ratings success. All in all, if Bravo and reality-TV is your thing, "Shahs" does not disappoint. Unlike most reality show denizens, these people are actually all rather likable though you might not think so from the first episode. Give it time. They'll grow on you..and you might even find yourself humming "Tehrangeles". I do, though I'm kind of weird that way.

Ciao.